Hi Stratus Consulting! I see that you are very responsive to profile evaluation requests! I hope you spare some time for evaluating mine as well.
Hi ushakg388, thanks for noticing that I do try to respond quickly to profile requests here and I sincerely try to give you some good thoughts about your profile. Will do so below... Thank you Donna for your thorough analysis and addressing every aspect of my query 
Does keep up my hope of applying and getting through schools.Nationality: Indian
Age: 29
Female
GMAT: 700 (Q-43, V-42, IR-7, AWA-6.0)
Female- good, age- fine, GMAT coming from Indian pool: not as strong as it could be- but if considered in overall applicant pool fine. The problem is you are considered among other Indian applicants so that 43Q is not going to be your best friend here in this process... Yes, I was afraid of that!
Undergraduation: Mechanical Engineering from JNTU (top 10 universities, non-IIT), GPA: 3.90/5 ; Revived and headed the Literature club at college apart from active participation in Tech fests. Interned at Indian Railways, submitting 3 research projects based on Computational Fluid Dynamics and Design & Engineering; Also interned at a Small Scale Enterprise to submit an original project work as part of course curriculum (dealing with new moulding techniques for automobile parts).
OK- education does not stand out in applicant pool- but solid. I shall present it better.Professional Work Experience: Business Analyst to Product Owner to Analytics Consulting in IT (4 years)- at Indian IT Majors- Infosys & Cognizant; R&D role in Computational Fluid Dynamics at Fiat Chrysler (2 years). I have pursued my career in line with my entrepreneurial interests-combining product/software development and Predictive Analytics for business decisions; leveraging software development and Agile practices and combining it with Automobile/Commuter systems for efficient design and development. Certifications include Scrum Certified Product Owner; ISTQB Foundation Level Certified Quality Analyst.
Leadership experience: Leading high performing teams at offshore to deliver on-time product increments in Agile/DevOps environments, by implementing DevOps and Shift-Left levers, leading to savings of 100k (pounds). Establishing TCOE at offshore through preparation of Test Strategy, Test and Resource Estimation, defining and measuring KPIs for automation projects, leading to 30% reduction in test times, 35% cost reduction and containing high severity defect leakage to 2%.
Good work experience, rather typical for applicant pool Yes, I do agree. However, I shall present it better so that my leadership skills are visible. How do I link my personal experiences which tested me to the limit as a person and my phase of depression due to personal circumstances, but through which I continued to work and my positive responses to the situation and my will to see the phase through, with my narrative? I do feel it was my ambition which saw me through the dark phase and my refusal to give up which saw me through. How do I highlight this without coming across as braggy or melodramatic. And I did face 2 layoffs in my career..this was pretty challenging combined with my depression. Extra Curriculars include being part of CSR initiatives and active contribution to newsletters at Fiat Chrysler; Being part of Toastmasters and ILI (infosys Leadership Institute) at Infosys; Active participation in Tech Hackathon and Innovation challenges at Cognizant.
I would encourage you to think about how you have demonstrated impact in these activities- not just the participation-
but how did you drive change in any of these? The Hackathon experience is interesting and you may be able to show some leadership from this. Here's an article about how to showcase leadership skills: https://stratusadmissionscounseling.com ... p-profile/ Yes, this has me thinking. Will develop it in those lines.MBA Target Schools: NYU Stern, CMU Tepper, Ross, Haas, Chicago Booth.
Of this group, I would say Tepper is your best shot- you would have to absolutely hit a home run on the essays and interview and application to break through to the others on the 43 Q score.Stretch Schools: MIT LGO, Cornell, Columbia, Tuck.
The avg GMAT of MIT LGO is 728, and my completely unofficial-
just my opinion - guideline is for Indian candidates to be 20 points over the stated average of a school to be competitive- assuming all else is strong- so I am not feeling the MIT LGO for you right now. You might get the best traction from Cornell from this list. I would suggest you look also at some schools like Kelley, Carlson. Another strategy is to look at the B schools that need more women in their class and so INSEAD and IE B School both look like they'd want their female representation to go up- so that's another strategy on shortlisting schools. UNC Kenan-Flagler needs more qualified women so you might present well there in the early admit round. Those are some ideas. You can do strategy - maybe not M/B/B - but all these programs I mention have strong consulting pipelines. Yes, I was afraid of applying to Booth, Haas and LGO given my quant score. I am considering UCLA Anderson, Duke, Georgia Tech and Darden instead. WIll these be a sure shot chance for me along with Tepper? Since I definitely have to join an MBA program in 2018 and do not wish to miss this chance. This is my one and only shot. Post MBA Plans: To work with M/B/B as a Strategy and Leadership consultant for 3-5 years and then transition to leadership role or start up an own venture.
Please let me know my chances at intended schools, especially Booth and Stretch schools.
Booth just posted a new Nobel prize winning faculty member, a crazy high average GMAT, and was up over 30% in applications last time I heard reports on that-
so no, I'm not feeling terribly strong on your chances there unless you have something spectacular that I can't see here... maybe you have an uncle ready to donate a new building wing? I'm kidding... sort of... I think that Booth is becoming harder to get into- not saying you should not try- but just recognize they are getting applicants who have it all- the grades, the GMAT, the great work... and if they can fill their class with people who have it all.... they may not need to dip down to make concessions when there are some areas-
as there appear to be here- that could be improved. I give all this advice just to call reality as I see it- but that does not mean there are not exceptions to EVERY rule! If you feel you have compelling reasons why you fit at Booth, then you should apply and put forth a great application. We can help with that if you pursue that route- we have Booth alums on our counseling team and we have lots of experience helping people prepare Booth applications. To learn more how we help, go to this link: https://stratusadmissionscounseling.com ... b-visitor/ If Booth is your dream school, then who am I to tell you not to try! Go for it... but add some safety schools too if you really want to be sitting in a B school class next fall! Best wishes! And here is a bonus article on how to approach the essays: https://stratusadmissionscounseling.com ... 000-words/Thank You!
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11 Oct 2017, 22:56
